Catherine excitedly ordered me around and Ethan didn’t show the slightest sign of opposition.

I thought back to the many times I had begged to move into the master bedroom, only to have Ethan refuse, citing that couples need their own space.

It was only when the mood struck him that he would allow me to stay in the master bedroom.

If I accidentally left something behind, he would put on a cold face and remind me to be more mindful of boundaries.

I used to think this was just the naturally self-disciplined and reserved side of Ethan’s personality.

In the end, I realized it was because, in his heart, I was never the one to hold the position of the mistress.

Ethan suddenly pointed at his phone. I lowered my head to take a look and saw the message he had sent in the chat box.

[Baby, my marriage with Catherine is just in name only, a facade for the sake of the group's collaboration. Don't misunderstand.]

I couldn’t help but laugh. Ethan still thought he could fool me like a three-year-old.

It was fine. If he said his marriage was fake, then let it be fake.

As long as what I had was real, that was all that mattered.

I was about to head back to the guest room to finish packing my luggage when I saw Catherine take the lead and walk toward the guest room.

Her face carried a meaningful smile as if everything was part of a plan.

“Miss Johnson, Ethan has been clinging to me tightly. It will be inconvenient for you to stay here any longer. You should hurry up and pack your things and find another place to stay..."

She paused and seemed surprised. "Miss Johnson, you've already packed half of it? And your style of dressing is so similar to mine! We must be really destined to meet!"

A cold feeling spread through my heart uncontrollably.

Ethan's favorite thing to do was buy me clothes and jewelry.

In the past, I thought it was proof of his love and affection for me when he bought me clothes and jewelry. But now, looking at all these outfits and accessories that didn’t match my style at all, each one looked perfect on Catherine, as if it was made for her.

It almost felt like I’d been occupying a place that wasn’t mine.

I didn’t want to ask any more questions, but Ethan grabbed my hand with a stern face, his tone anxious. "Why are you packing your things out of nowhere? Answer me!"

I turned my face away, not wanting to respond. Just then, I saw Catherine reach out to take my music box.

"Don't touch it!"

With a loud crash, the music box fell heavily to the floor, its lid and small parts scattering everywhere, shards scattered across the ground.

"Ah... I'm sorry, Miss Johnson, I didn't mean to… Ethan, my hand... it hurts so much..." Catherine cried, clutching the scratches on her palm.

Ethan rushed over to check her injury. The next moment, he darkened his face and stomped on the shattered remnants of the music box with his foot.

He glared at me viciously. "Is it just a broken ornament? Kathleen, do you really need to scare people on purpose? Throw all this junk away and don’t let me see it in the house again!"

After saying this, Ethan stomped on the shards under his foot one last time before picking up Catherine and leaving without looking back.

Tears fell onto the broken pieces of the music box and the shards pierced my fingers, but I couldn’t feel any pain at all.

When I was sixteen, my parents were going through a divorce.

Not knowing what to do, I ran to my best friend Sophia's house. I didn’t find her, but I bumped into her brother, Ethan, who had just finished playing basketball with his friends.

"Kid, you're Sophia’s friend, right? Why are you crying? Come on, talk to me.”

With red eyes, I tried to leave, but Ethan grabbed my arm and frowned, sending away the friends who wanted to continue playing games with him.

He told me to wait patiently and then, in the pouring rain, ran off by himself to buy the best desserts and cakes in the city. He piled them all in front of me.

He gently rubbed my head to comfort me, then mysteriously took out a music box from behind, with the little hero and princess figurines slowly spinning around.

"Kid, don’t be afraid."

“No matter how others treat you in the future, I, your unofficial brother, will always protect you. Let this music box be the proof.”

A young boy’s way of offering comfort was always so pure and straightforward, yet in that moment, it completely won over my helpless heart.

From that day until now, I’d loved Ethan for ten whole years.

I still remembered the promises he had made, but the one who swore those promises had long since forgotten them.

Holding the shattered remains in my hands, I gave them one last look before tossing them into the trash.

If that's the case, I didn't want both the promises and Ethan anymore. Never again.

By the time the next morning came, Ethan still hadn’t returned.

After shipping my luggage back home, I went to the office to print my resignation letter, ready to hand it to Ethan personally.

On the way, a message from him popped up:

[Baby, I went too far with my words yesterday. I ended up staying at the office to work and fell asleep there. I just woke up and I'll head back soon.]

I lifted my gaze to the empty office in front of me and placed the resignation letter on Ethan's desk.

I didn’t reply to his message. Instead, I exited the chat and removed him from my pinned conversations.

A red notification dot appeared in my contact list. It was Catherine sending me a friend request.

I hesitated briefly before accepting and immediately, a message popped up in the chat:

[Ethan, don’t forget to buy more condoms when you come back from the convenience store! You were too wild last night. You used up all the ones we had at home!]

The message was followed by several shy emojis.

At exactly the two-minute mark, Catherine deleted the message.

[Ah, I’m so sorry, Miss Johnson… I sent that to the wrong person… You didn’t see anything, did you?]

A pang of bitterness surged in my heart. I had no interest in playing along with her charade, but my fingers instinctively tapped into her social media feed.

One post after another unfolded before me, like a film reel playing out in front of my eyes.

It turned out that Catherine had been back for an entire month.

During this month, Ethan had been sneaking around, taking her to various places to enjoy themselves.

Looking back at the dates, I realized these trips were all during the times Ethan claimed he didn’t want me to be overwhelmed with work and deliberately assigned tasks to other employees.

Celestria Spire, Mount Kaelen, Seraphis Valley, they were all places I had once begged Ethan to visit with me.

He would always hold me in his arms, coaxing me with sweet words. “Alright, alright, once work isn’t so hectic, I’ll take you there.”

I waited for eight years and never saw him find the time. But when Catherine had only been back for a month, he suddenly was no longer busy.

At every destination, Ethan happily posed for countless photos with Catherine. Yet, during all the years I was with him, I was never allowed to point my camera at him.

He would say, "If my sister finds out I took her best friend, the little brat will probably kill me."

Or he’d say, "Baby, you're my secretary, after all. Office romances bring too much gossip and I don’t want you to get hurt."

But when one truly loved someone, how could it be hidden?

I was too naïve. Ethan had been evasive about our relationship for eight years. I should have realized long ago that he never loved me.

Just as I was about to close the app, a new photo from Catherine’s profile popped up.

The background was a large bed, with Catherine wearing a revealing camisole, her slender fingers tracing the man's firm, muscular abdomen.

It was a live photo and when I opened it, a familiar "Kate" echoed in my ears.

I had heard Ethan whisper it countless times in my ear with a seductive voice. "Kate,"

It turned out that the name he had always called was never mine.

Tears finally streamed uncontrollably down my face, landing precisely on the caption beneath Catherine's post.

"The beautiful memories of last night. He said, a fake is just a fake, it can never compare to me, the original treasure."

I wiped away my tears and absentmindedly tapped "like" on the post.

Turning away, I left the company and ran into my best friend, Sophia, who was there on business. Without hesitation, I told her the news that I was about to go back and get married.

Over the years, because of Ethan's request to keep our relationship a secret, every time I talked to Sophia about matters of the heart, I would deliberately change the subject. But now that I was leaving, I felt it was only right to tell her and say a proper goodbye.

Sophia's face was filled with shock. "Is it really happening so suddenly? Does that mean we won't be able to see each other again for a long time?"

I helplessly nodded, but before I could say anything, she pouted and grabbed my arm. "Kate, you always said you were too busy with work and I never had a chance to get my mom to meet you, my best friend. Now that you're leaving, there's no way you can back out today! So, you must come with me, no matter what!"

And just like that, I found myself being dragged by Sophia to attend the family dinner her family was hosting that evening.

I had always avoided Sophia's invitations because Ethan had told me that he would wait until the day he officially revealed our relationship before bringing me to meet his mother.

After all these years together, I never got to experience that moment where he would introduce me to his family.

To my surprise, now that I was about to leave, I finally had the chance.

After finishing my styling, Sophia and I arrived at the Clark Family residence, only to find that the family dinner was already halfway through.

Ethan stood next to his parents, with Catherine by his side. Various socialites and influential figures came forward to offer their blessings for their engagement.

It turned out that tonight's family dinner was organized to officially announce their engagement.

It seemed Ethan couldn't wait to announce to the whole world that he was marrying Catherine.

I instinctively wanted to leave, but Sophia had already grabbed my arm and was pulling me toward them.

“Dad! Mom! I brought my dear best friend to meet you!”

When Ethan saw me, his expression froze for a moment and he slightly loosened his hold on Catherine.

As soon as his mother saw me, her face brightened with joy. "I've heard my daughter talk so much about you, how you're an ambitious and kind-hearted friend. Now that I see you in person, you really are as beautiful and familiar as she described!"

I awkwardly shook my head.

Seeing his mother treat me with such closeness and affection made my heart ache with an indescribable sense of desolation.

We could have almost become a pair of well-matched mother-in-law and daughter-in-law.

"By the way, Miss Johnson, I heard from Sophia that you’ve been busy with work all these years and haven’t had time to date. Today, we have many good young men at our family dinner. Would you like me to help introduce you to someone?"

Before I had a chance to decline, Ethan let out a cold laugh. "She doesn't need it."

Of course, I didn't need it anymore—after all, I was about to go back for a marriage alliance.

Sophia, standing beside me, quickly added, "Mom, Kate really doesn't need it. My dear best friend is about to get married in Brightvale. I don’t even know how many times a year we’ll get to see each other from now on..."

When Ethan heard this, the smug expression on his face froze and his gaze became dark and unreadable as he fixed it on me.

I went to the restroom for a moment and when I returned to the banquet hall, Ethan caught me in the corner and pulled me into his arms.

With a lazy movement, he lowered his head, his voice tinged with reproach as it echoed in my ear.

"Baby, don't make up stories about marrying someone else in the future. I’ll get jealous if I hear it."

I looked at him, a strange feeling bubbling up inside me and I couldn't help but find it a little amusing.